


The Boundaries In Between

by Tsuukai



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, F/M, Fem!Kagami Taiga - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-02-06 14:44:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1861749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsuukai/pseuds/Tsuukai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And she thought insubordination was the only thing she should worry about.</p><p> </p><p>(Repost from my Tumblr account, but hopefully, this train will end here.)</p><p>(Rating will go up further for the later instalments.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Rank

**Author's Note:**

> Was sleep-deprived as I wrote this, so might seem OOC, but considering that we have a gender-bent Kagami, a Military!AU, and we have to realise I don’t know anything about the military outside of war stories from History class years ago, please forgive me. Also (as if that was not enough), took liberties on throwing around random quotes (because I could), and I am so glad “Taiga” is feminine enough to use.

She tried not to stare.

It was difficult when the opposite party failed to do anything but attract attention to the utter mess she had made when her tray was smacked out of her hands. On other days, the sound of the crash and the clattering of plastic items would not have garnered an iota of notice, but today… the man who stood looking down his upturned nose at the now squabbling woman crouched at floor-level continued the droning snide commentary that had caught her attention from all the way across the mess. The comments had started off amusing—possibly still was—but as the seconds ticked by and the woman under duress started to sob dryly, she took a cursory glance around the area, clocking off each face along with each hiccup from the woman.

She guessed, on any other day, she would have been one of the others, in her own world, engrossed un the mental nuances of multitasking as she thought of what happened before the meal she was eating, what she would be doing after her meal, and if interesting enough, about her meal. At present, the meal was a repeated menu item wherein the chef probably thought no one would notice (or complain) directly enough that he would have to make excuses of the late drop-off. More so at present, she had arrived earlier than naught and finished the (dare she think it) bland and lacking meal, and she had finished stressing the future’s possible errors she would make, see or need to correct. So it was only appropriate—or really, rude—to be watching the fiasco take place.

Fiasco may have been a wilder word for the discrete interaction happening close to the lunch line. Newcomers sidestepped the duo, as if nothing of interest was taking place, or they would glance just so, before they would shrug off the scene and continue on their way. She did not know why it happened—the smacking—but she knew the other woman did not need the added three minutes of the talking down. She recognised the man (who would not recognise the overly qualified fool who hated team work because it was not stimulating enough and had been duty-demoted because of his inappropriate behaviour towards the army women?) that had been forced (otherwise stripped down a rank) to coordinate all mess times, at least for this week. Last week he was washing tanks with a scowl so deep, not even the kind, slobbering old timer wanted to be next to him.

She decided to move then, when she saw how he did a whole body flinch at something the woman murmured. Granted, intervening would cause a bigger problem, but no matter how she digressed herself from doing anything but—she was gripping her files hoping that the thought of destroying its perfect symmetry and incurring triple training hours would halt her motor actions—and soon she was crossing the distance of the mess.

It seemed that she caught the Lt. Colonel’s gaze, and the deep blues that were hooded under dark eyelids, moved along with her even going so much as to dip his eyes as she crouched near the sobbing woman. “Come one, get up,” she gruffly encouraged, whatever femininity she could have possessed found only in her figure and her DNA. Everything else screamed all man.

“…what are you doing?”

The tone was low and rough. She glanced up at the corner of her eye, never letting go of the damsel she was rescuing. “What does it look like…sir?” she remembered to tack on since he was, technically, on superior rank.

“No seriously,” he asked, hands now hitching on the waistband of his army fatigues. The black t-shirt that he wore was stretched tight across his pectorals, sharply contrasting the tags dangling from a slender muscular neck. “What do you think you are doing?”

She frowned, getting up along with the woman while looking at her nametape she spoke to the woman first before answering the other officer. “Sykes, go on ahead and clean up. I’ll get someone to bring you something to eat later on.” Then, turning her head to face the slowly infuriated man, she continued, “I’m doing my job, sir, as military police.”

There was a moment of silence that surrounded them and, for a second believing she could now be on her way before what she said caught up to his inappropriate muscle brain, the Lt. Colonel scoffed. Her body froze.

“You’re kidding me, right?!” and the bellows of laughter that sprung out of his wide open mouth further ruined her mood as she watched, eye ticking, as he bent over himself to continue with his laugh. “Oh my god, you,” he started to ease out in snickers, “You’re the best.”

Thoroughly irritated—as a woman, who would not be aggravated by that comment after guffawing loud enough that the deaf soldier in the Vet could hear him?—she swivelled on her heel and glared up at him. She was glad that there was only two inches of difference in height because it made glowering easier on the 6’3” soldier. “And you’re the worst!” she snapped, forgetting decorum as she mentally prepared herself to bring the asshole down. “I’ll be the second woman you’ve harassed today!”

Lt. Colonel smirked, the glint of his teeth so sharp, she had to blink some to not tear at the sight. “Oh?” he sounded, nearing closer until they were almost chest-to-chest. She did not feel uncomfortable despite the lack of personal space because even though she referred to herself as a woman, she cared less of it. She was stronger than any man gave her credit, and if it were not for those restrictions in the special forces, she would have been right there next to him and _skinning his face off!_ “Kagami, was it?”

“Glad you can read,” she snarled between thinned lips, taking care not to crack her already dried lips so that she did not look like the beast her crew mates delegated her to be.

The already smirking lips stretched widely, for whatever reason that passed through his head, and he leaned down the rest of the four inches to look her in the eyes. “So snappy,” he commented, but she could tell something else was occupying her mind and by the glazed sheen in those blue hooded eyes, she did not like it; she curled her toes to remain standing where she was. “Be careful, or you might lose those lips.”

Kagami’s stomach recoiled at the words. _What the_ —but the Lt. Colonel was already grinning and moving away from her, seeming to have a spring to his steps. “Hey, Murasakibara! I’m heading off now!” he called to whoever was in the kitchen behind the counters Kagami remained standing at.

“What—” she started to grouse out when another voice petulantly whined out, “But that’s not fair, Aomine~.”

In the next few seconds, all Kagami felt was confusion.

*

She spent the next few hours of training and being supervised (and heaped with triple the day’s quota because of the messy files she handed in) without thinking of the Lt. Colonel again. When shower time was called out for women, and she followed her instructor grumpily towards the stalls, her mind instantly went to him. There were not any pleasant thoughts going through her head though; smirking mouth and conniving eyes of various sizes and depths clouded her vision as she wondered if the brat-of-a-man would report her for insubordination. It would not be the first time something like that happened to Kagami, and it probably would not be the last, nevertheless she was not looking forward to when her captain would smack her head silly for causing another riot especially when the Major was not around.

“Don’t look like that,” the instructor mumbled out, waiting for a stall to be free. Kagami, slouching beside her, cringed. “If you haven’t been called out by now, you haven’t been reported.” Sergeant Aida was giving her the mocking glare now, hands on her withe waist, foot tapping on the floor. “You could have been moving on from First sergeant by now, not heading back to it!”

Kagami understood the older woman’s frustration. She too, felt the irritation and the disappointment of her own actions as the days went by doing the same routines she could have been teaching the greener thumbs on base. But after that incident in Cassava, she could not bear to see anyone she shared a platoon with in their new positions marked with shiny medals and stripes. Maybe that was what caught her attention when she saw Lt. Colonel; still acting as his usual self and bossing everyone in his platoon around. But there he was, the roles reversed, and that too by soldiers in grades much lower than him.

And Kagami had been one of them.

Thoughts now gone sour, she ambled her way into a shower stall the minute it was free, and rushed through her actions. The mission in her mind was now becoming bolder and louder, and all she wanted to do was burst into action and find that (asshole) who did not really deserve Kagami’s considerations.

“Kagami!” she turned to face her Captain and the scowl on his face, cringing. He held up a missive. “You’ve been hailed.” Those words did not sound comforting at all.

*

Aomine would have been lying if he said he was scared of the missive shoved deep into his army fatigue pants. Walking down the base’s makeshift path to the stationhouse, he wondered if the little redheaded bitch ratted him out for ‘harassing two woman’ to the other redheaded bitch. Granted the shorter redhead was male, but he had mood swings worse than an army bitch who was PMS-ing that week. Grunting at the dismal ideas of his demise, Aomine mucked the distance as if he had no qualms about losing his current rank—which, he realises suddenly, is always being put on tether hooks for him—and in seemingly no time, was standing in front of a closed tent.

“Aomine reporting in,” he drawled out, a little sharper than he normally spoke. The nervousness from his imaginations were seeping through his words, but that did not stop him from _trying_ to be as Aomine as possible; no one could deny he was their best.

“Come in,” the quiet voice of his higher-up came, and when Aomine walked in, he tried to cull the surprise of seeing an older crew mate standing at ease before the redheaded commander. “At ease if you will,” was conversed amusingly. Aomine knew better, remaining as stiff as his ‘at ease’ position allowed of him. “I was going through your records, Daiki,” the man was saying, and Aomine frowned as he saw a stack of files that looked to have more complaints than necessary sitting close to the redhead’s wrist as he leisurely flipped through the reports. “And it seems, the only place I haven’t put you in is,” looking at him with his heterochromatic eyes and a (dainty) smile on his lips, “the Military Police.”

Aomine groaned internally; the bitch did rat him out! Before he could ask to speak freely what was on his mind, a voice called from outside the tent, “Second Lt. Kagami reporting in!” when the woman was called in, her scrunched up forehead skewed into a disgruntled frown, and Aomine shared the sentiment; why would the rack be irritated seeing him when she was the one who officially reported him?

“As I was saying Daiki,” the redheaded male brought back his attention, “Currently, Major Kiyoshi is unable to attend to his duties so in the meantime, why don’t you lend a hand?”

There was a muddled silence in the tent where even breathing appeared to be a crime.

“What?”

“You’ve got to be-”

“I think you should reconsider giving Aomine such a-”

Everyone was silenced again, this time when the head of the base shut the folder in his hands with a soft flump and looked up at the three standing. “Was I too soft?”

It did not take long after to list out what was expected of Aomine that week, and who all he had to seek to understand his duties further. The file handed to him by a visibly unsure Kuroko allowed him to amuse himself with a newer catchphrase when he read the unit’s insignia: “What has to be done”.

In the time that Aomine was occupying himself with the file, Kagami was addressed next. “It has come to my notice that you acted…how should I put this so that you could understand the full impact of what you have done,” the redheaded male stated, leaning back into his seat. “When Lt. Sykes came to me about Daiki over here, I had half a mind to remove those stripes of his.” The glare did not go unnoticed, making Kagami gulp alongside Aomine. “But what interested me more was the knight in shining armour.” A creepy smile stretched upon his lips. “If I’m not mistaken,” and everyone in the room knew otherwise, “wasn’t that what got you to be where you are, Ms Taiga Kagami?”

The blatant removal of rank would have rattled her if it was said by anyone else, so she sucked in the air in her mouth making her lips stick unnaturally close to her teeth; he was not someone she wanted to mess with. “Yes, sir,” she confirmed loudly instead.

“But since no one complained of such insubordination, I can’t really do anything about it, now can I?” it was a lie. The look in his eyes were dancing with mirth at the uncomfortable stances both involved in the mess hall incident supported currently, but neither moved to say anything against each other, and that, they realised, was what he was waiting for. “Consider this Providence. Dismissed.” Kuroko remained where he was, but he watched with his poker face as the two soldiers saluted and edgily made their way outside. “Wasn’t that fun?” he asked the man.

“Cruel and unusual punishment as always,” was the reply.

*

Outside, Kagami grabbed onto the departing dark-skinned Asian by his elbow, drawing him to a halt. The man glared at her over his shoulder, but she did not care. “You,” she breathed out, cutting off the swears she could have used to describe him, “You didn’t report me?”

“Whadayamean?” he snapped back at her, voice still at a low drawl like earlier from lunch. He snagged his arm back with “Aren’t you the one who reported me?!”

“What?!” she snapped back, her earlier conviction to be polite flying out the window as fast as the other soldier stalked his way towards his sleeping quarters. “I did no such thing!”

“Huh,” he scoffed again, “You don’t have to lie to me, bitch.” The term was something she heard often enough not to bother about it, and maybe if she was not already in such confusion—was not it better to be called a bitch than a wimp?—she raised her leg and kicked the disappearing ass right down the middle. Kagami was nothing if not too strong for her gender, and commanding officers always commented that it was a shame that there were women restrictions on the more appealing jobs to Kagami, and seeing someone who had all that she wanted acting like such—she raised her leg again and kicked.

This time, however, Aomine caught the raised appendage. “The same thing won’t catch me a second time, stupid.”

“Clearly you are the stupid one. I didn’t report you,” she groused, pulling her leg back, but on hearing what she had to say, the grip tightened. Suddenly caught off balance, she toppled backward onto the floor, staring wide eye up at Aomine’s baffled stare. “What?!”

“You…didn’t report me?”

“Of course not!” she snapped.

“Even though you said I harassed you?” he sounded so mystified that the Nisei did not understand what his problem was.

“Think for a second what would happen to me if I reported I was harassed. I would never live it down, for fuck’s sake.” A dull blush covered the redhead’s cheeks. Aomine stared for a few seconds more, and tiring of this awkwardness, Kagami struggled to pull her leg back. “Let me go, you pervert.”

Aomine did, only to invade her space by squatting down and leering at her. It would seem that he could not control his baser instincts, causing Kagami to instinctually reach out to smack his closer-than-necessary face. Aomine caught her again. A sound so close to a creepy giggle came out of the handsome man’s face, and now scarred at the scene, Kagami reared away from him. It did not change anything.

“I look forward to working with you, Second Lt. Taiga Kagami,” he grinned widely while he released her hand, smoothly standing back on his feet before moving away. Kagami watched, perplexed, then cursed up a storm for being left in the dirt after her bath.

*

There was that noise again; soft, dulcet and at the same time grating to her ears even as she laid, dressed up to her boots, waiting for the bell to end its roll. At the last note, she rose with no spirit in her movements and made way to the exit passing by rushing peers, skipping over misplaced boots and stray inner shirts. At the door, she paused, looked outside as per her usual perusal, and halted all movement. Normally, the action calmed her mind for what was to take place in the next three hours, but what halted even her currently burning lungs was the wide smirking beast lounging on the squad’s large metal dump of a tank, twirling a whistle on its rope around a long slender finger. He had on a black cap, from where she did not know, displaying a rank that was not even close to his. She really did not want to know what he was doing there, being happy with his self.

“Hey,” he called out when she did not move even after a few minutes passed by. “Get your ass over here.”

“I could report you for _sexual_ harassment now,” she guiled at him. He laughed at the threat, darting down to her level with a push to his heel.

“No you wouldn’t,” he exclaimed haughtily, and she would not, but she did not like how he was waving around the boastful comment over her head.

“What do you want?” she asked instead, her mood enough to curdle fresh milk at sight. Clearly he had an agenda.

“I wanted to know what you were doing after this,” she blinked at this. “What? I’m using proper decorum when speaking to female soldiers.”

“…You are sick. And still a ranking officer.” Her eyes narrowed at the more innocent turn to his smile. It was a total one eighty to his earlier attitude, and it was a major cause for concern; after the years she’s put in the army, she was not going to left this male-frump screw it up for her. She’ll patiently wait for the Sergeant Major handling reports, promotions and applications to die from an uncalled live mine than to end her career earlier because she was forced to be dismissed from ruining their rising Special Ops soldier. Standing before this apparently amazing specimen of Universal Soldier and the Terminator, Kagami was seen only as a—

“Yo, Hellcat,” a tanned hand waved before her amber red eyes snapping her attention back to deep blues. She cursed at him and stepped back. Unaffected, Lt. Colonel smiled widely again with “I’ll call you that from now on”.

“What?” she ground out.

“Hellcat. Taiga the Hellcat.” He paused, turning his head to the side. “Or is Taiga the Great Hellcat, better?”

“Fuck no!” she bellowed, smacking his chest in rejection. “What the hell kind of epithet is that?!” He laughed, eyes twinkling in mirth that she did not find in their conversation.

“Why? Didn’t you want to be an aviator? You’ve even got your jump wings.” Kagami wanted to scowl in displeasure as she realised the man had read her file. But then he would also know why she was not where she had requested to be despite having all the qualifications needed for the job.

“What’s your point?” while her voice was low, her eyes burned into Aomine. It was a look, he decided, that he quite liked on the woman soldier.

The smile that stretched around her pearly teeth took on a demonic trait, forehead furrowed as he scrunched his nose in distaste, “Let’s just say that I’m interested in how high you’ll jump.” Then grinning again as he licked his lips, “Now wouldn’t you be so kind as to tell me when you’ll be off?”

Kagami’s jaw dropped in shock. “What? No. Find somebody else your size,” she said, almost in passing before the guffawing that she was getting all too familiar with hearing came closer to her ear as a heavy muscled arm draped across the middle of her trapezius before his hot breath made the small hairs on her nape and ears stand up.

“Ah? But aren’t you just the perfect size for me, Hellcat?” and she watched how the tips of his fingers almost grazed the top of her left breast. She smacked the hand, unimpressed.

“No. Go away.”

“Only I can do what has to be done.”

“Ge- Don’t abuse the slogan, you bastard! Just go!” And laughing, he saluted her as the other soldiers in her squad finally made their way to where they stood, parting with, “After your shower I’ll pick you up.”

“No. Don’t. I’m not going to be waiting for you.” But the man was already so far away, it looked like Kagami was talking to the tank.

“What are you doing, flirting with Aomine?” her Captain’s snipe remark bringing her back to the here and now, reaching to knock her head. She beat him to it, though, when she let her forehead painfully smack against the tank’s broad shoulder. “…Kagami?”

“I’m not,” she mumbled, drumming her head on the tank again in tandem. “I’m not.”


	2. Slow Burning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lt. Colonel Aomine hated playing slow; especially when he saw how hot the other soldier was burning under his touch, knocking him out faster than eight araks. This girl, he thought, placing his palms flat against her abdominal skin, is going to kill me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild swearing, drunken ramblings, prelude to the smut (so no smut here…)

Let it not be said that Lt. Colonel Daiki Aomine was a lightweight.

Try drinking four shots in a row, three beers, another three shots, then standing before the goddess of fire and might, and  _oh my God, her teeth_ , being presented with a tray of shots all milky white in colour. He would have passed an unsavoury comment about its hue, but one look at how the redhead toppled back one drink at a time, made his throat dry up watching her neck stretch and glow in the dim lighting of the bar. It was this sight to which he tossed the remaining drinks on the platter before anyone could stop him, crowing in delight and praise, not realising that words were not what he was speaking.

When the sole redheaded performer of his past few nights’ dream—wet and wetter as they accumulated—all sense of reason passed by him when she came to view. “You’re beyond drunk, you lush,” was not what it usually opened with, but he could deal. If he asked nicely (like he was learning she liked) they may have many retakes until they reached blissful perfection. Or bliss, he was not too picky.

“C’mon, Lt.,” she said, draping his arm around her shoulders as she hoisted him on his feet.  _So far so good_ , he thought, struggling to remain balanced before he started the next part of the dialogue. “I’m all ready if you are,” he whispered and then promptly passed out.

To Kagami, however, it all sounded like gargling. Gone was the suave manner in which the creep had approached her for the past few months, blithely disregarding her space and not even caring that he was being put into new assignments far ridiculous than the previous one all because those watching them thought he was, dare she say it,  _harassing_  her. It was a nice gesture, the others looking out for her, but on the other hand, it showed how much the other soldiers really despised the Lt. Colonel.

It did not matter to her, though. She thought, in the beginning, that it would be grotesque to even see him harping around her sight, but he was consistent. He was lewd and straightforward, wanting to get into her pants that was for sure, but he never  _ordered_  her to do so, and that, she thought, made all the difference. It was like a game to him, one she did not mind playing as long as it remained that way. As a precaution, she upped her training and informed everyone where she would be in case things got hairy between them.

Kagami brought them to the only hotel like structure the village they were station near had. The idea of ‘hotel’ was praising it too much, but it really had been that way when it was built, but abandoned soon after. Just when the army had moved a camp nearby, the locals usurped the notion of making money off them, and restarted the attraction for a supposedly cheap price of thirty-five an hour and seventy-five for the night. Since they were off this weekend, and she was no way in hell lugging him all the way back to camp even if he was the most attractive definition of a pervert, she smacked down the hundred bill she found in his wallet and awaited its change.

The receptionist-cum-bellboy-cum-manager shook in his shoes as he counted the change and handed it back. Kagami saw the extra note and handed it back to him. “Here you go,” but was denied vehemently with, “It’s today’s special deal!” shrugging, and cursing his weight, she thanked the man and moved to the elevator. He had looked like he wanted to help but she had things under control; she was  _a fucking soldier, damnit._

In room 204, Kagami dropped the Lt. like a sack of potatoes and surveyed the room. She checked the attached bathroom, noted how clean it was, the window and its lock, then trained her eyes back to the bed where the lean man lay spread eagle halfway on the bed. She harrumphed, thinking her job done, but on passing the bathroom, glanced into it again. She paused.

It seemed like a sin to pass up a glorious opportunity to bathe without permeable, without someone waiting for the stall, and without feeling grimy going back out once done. She took her time, used all the products the hotel had to offer and relished in the hot water all to herself.

Outside, as if rejuvenated, Aomine sprung up like quicksilver, only to groan as the room swayed before his eyes and his stomach lurched. It would seem karma was sitting on his heavy shoulders and having the laugh of her life watching as he grovelled for support on the ground. When the spinning stopped enough for him to actually see where he was, his senses immediately went on alert, not recognising the place.

There was a double bed on which he was kneeling at the foot of, his clothes were on (which meant he had not spent the past few hours grinding into his redhead); there were no other people around or items left behind to make sense of what had happen, or was happening. However, the muffled sound of water running thought pipes alerted his awareness to a possible sink area. He got onto his feet, and as steadily as he could, manoeuvred around the bed and to the sound behind a door.  _A bathroom?_  He pushed the slightly open door further and peeked inside.

Suddenly, the cold feeling in his veins heated at the thoughts running through his head. Had he finally managed the impossible? Had he been waiting for her to finish bathing and had fallen asleep?

Excited, he reared back to the bed; pulling off the non-combat boots he had worn, throwing them to the other corner of the room, pulled free the white t-shirt from his pant and over his head, followed by the buckle on his khakis. Before long of him observing himself in the mirror, drinking all the water he could find in the mini fridge allotted to the room, Kagami came out rubbing her red tresses with a stark white towel—at least they bleached it clean.

Kagami, however, felt like it was déjà vu. She had once come back to her bunk to see Aomine sprawled on the bottom bed particularly with more attire on than he was sporting at the moment. He also, to her utter surprise, looked completely awake in the short time she had disappeared from his side. “You good?” she asked, pushing away the feeling that was slowly rising and telling her to move her ass out the window if not the door, because that smile on Aomine’s face, was as predatory as they came.

“All good to go,” was the smart answer.

She nodded, glad for it, and draping the used towel on the closet chair, stepped back, preparing to leave. Her action, however, made the man’s grin broaden in anticipation only to fall in abysmal shock when she turned around to the door.

“Where-where are you going?” he almost cried out. Later he would deny sounding so desperate and needy, but at the moment, it was life or death by blue balls.

“Base?” she was confused. “You get some rest, and I’ll see you at base as usual, bothering the fuck out of me.”

“What? Base?” he cringed. Why would she want to do that when here he was, already undone for her. “Why?”

“Why, what?” she snapped, not understanding what was the problem.  _Maybe he drank too much and is_ — Anything she was thinking faded away at the almost lost look that passed by on the man’s face. It looked like someone told him his dog passed away or something, not like Kagami cared for those cretins and their sharp teeth, hand reaching to discretely rub against the spot she was bit at. Pushing away those thoughts, she asked hesitantly, “Hey, are you okay? Do you need me to get some water? Or do you need to throw up?” she hovered in front of him ready to dash the moment he requested his need; she did not like that look on his face.

“You,” he croaked, and her eyes snapped up to his, “I need you.”

And it seemed like the reason was smacked to her face, the feeling she had earlier to flee intensifying.

“Can’t I?”

The pathetic whine that came with that request clenched at her heart painfully. “That’s—not something I can give.” And she wanted to bang her head because that was not the answer she was supposed to give here.  _You stupid woman and your fucking useless brain-to-mouth connection!_

A tanned hand slowly reached out for hers, long elegant fingers with callouses that she would die for, lightly flicked her slim, knobby ones, smooth from being unable to combat train since the demotion. It was a petulant action, like a child asking to be forgiven all the wrong deeds he had committed in the world, and decided that Aomine should be burned on the stake for her next decision.

“You’re not sober enough for me to take you seriously,” she murmured quietly, allowing her fingers to be played with before she grabbed his. “You… I don’t know what you expect from me, but I’m, I’m not really a woman. If you want my body, there are others in this village who would willing give you what you want,”  _with a little extra paper, that is_ , but she did not say it out loud.

Aomine frowned at this. “What are you talking about? Transgendered?” she pulled away her hand and smacked his face a couple of times before he grabbed both her hands, bringing it to his chest. It should have been impossible, but she could feel his strong heartbeats rising in tempo until she blushed and shouted out, “You’ll make all those  _transgendered_  angry that you compared them to me.” She pulled at her hands.

Aomine did not budge.

“I’m talking about me being the last female you should be interested in. I’m a man.” Aomine stood and, backing up, she found herself looking up into smouldering blues flames. If people thought she was fire, they did not know what they were on about. This man, burning so hot that she was scalding, was the blue of a flame she could never be.

“You can be whatever you want to be,” he said finally, pushing her against the unoccupied part of the wall across the bed, pushing his muscled right thigh in between her legs. She hissed at the position but did not move. “I don’t mind. You can scream and shout, slander me all you want, but don’t,” he pushed his chest against hers, making her gasp at the pressure, “don’t tell me what I want and who I should want. What I want I usually take without asking, and you should realise by now that I don’t want.” He dipped his head, “I’ve gone beyond wanting.” Saying so, he nosed in further and let his lips lock together with her shocked gape.

“No, don’t,” she mumbled in between the kisses she felt he was smothering her with. His breath was sweet from the arak he had downed earlier in the night, and his skin smelled of sweat and smoke from the bar they were in, but all that did not matter when Aomine’s hot tongue licked its way pass her mouth and to her teeth, grazing it, lapping her lips and pushing aggressively forward.

Realising that maybe she did not want him to stop, but also not wanting to completely give in, she slackened her jaw and pushed back at the tongue invading her mouth. In response, Aomine moaned, as if surprised or excited or further aroused, she did not know; only, she was enjoying fighting with him and pushed back just as much as he was.

Aomine released her hands, one trailing her right arm to hold her nape steady in a position he liked, kissed and moaning into her mouth, while the other reached for her strong waist to clench the small of her back, bring her closer to his body. His hands felt the heat he normally only got to taste with his eyes, and rubbing tight controlled circles with his right arm, managed to bring the woman further up his thigh so that in the next few seconds her legs automatically climbed around his waist. He grinned in the next full mouthed kiss, drawing back to see her flushed face and fired up eyes. He scooted his left hand further up her head, entangling his fingers into the still wet red strands, and gripped them firmly enough to draw back her neck.

“Nn,” passed out from clenched teeth, her eyes still watching him. He leaned towards her exposed neck and lapped at her chin, going down further with his tongue and sucking lightly enough to garner a needy sound, but strong enough to leave a bruised trail. A jolt of pain brought his head back up from the dip of her clavicle when she pulled at the short strands on his crown, glaring at him. “Fucker, no marks.”

“Hell no,” he whispered, heading for the next spot to mark: the juncture between her neck and shoulder. She gasped when he bit her, wide open mouth and all his teeth marking the smooth, slightly tanned skin, but not enough to make her bleed. That would come later. She hissed when he swathed the mark with his saliva. Tongue still out, he winked at her; “You’ll remember this night for a while.”

“That’s if you can even get it up and not fall short,” she growled low in her throat, and the tone just made his slowly hardening member to rear up full of life. Or spunk, or whatever it was going to be spurting out that night.

“Hope you’re in for some anise-flavour cum,” he joked, to which she gagged, and he carried her to the bed.

“I ain’t sucking you off. Ever,” she snapped. It did not matter that she denied his request of giving head, but professing that there might be a second or third, or nth number of time he would be asking and she denying, made his heart swell. He looked down. No, it made his cock hard.

“That’s okay. I’m patient enough to start small until you beg.” He dropped her on the springy mattress provided. “I’ll start with you begging for me to do you now.” He loomed over her for a brief second, taking in the image of the fiery woman splayed out to be eaten by him; hair in disarray, lips plumped and ripe red, neck glistening wherever he had been tasting her, the t-shirt pushed up in their dance together to show a rack different from what he was currently interested in.

He burned the image into his mind’s retina, and dropped his left hand on her abdominal and basked in the heat he felt under the skin. She shivered at his touch, and like before, did not move. She was like a beast, waiting to pounce once she knew her prey. He already knew everything he could see of her, and now, he wanted to see it all. He gripped the t-shirt and pulled it above her more interesting rack, then completed the action when she leaned forward to help. Aomine kneeled on the edge of the bed, hovering over her body, tossing the article away.

Kagami, for lack of trying, was wearing a sports bra. Black as they came, full with padded supports and the familiar tick of Nike. At least it was not her army sanctioned one, and the contrast to her skin helped excite him further. He was a little worried that if all the little things about the woman were making him this hard, what would he do when he saw her in full glory. The image almost made him pre-ejaculate so he stopped to rest his hands on her waist. “Should I or would you?”

“Wh-why are you asking now, you sicko?” she snapped, turning even redder than he thought possible. Honestly, the only thing stopping her from doing anything was, despite knowing about sex and the actions that came before and after, she had never engaged in it. She had never  _needed_  to! Also, she did not want to tell the asshole poised in between her legs. She was worried what would happen after her pants came off, but she was not going to back down. This was a challenge, she told herself.  _Oh, you stupid girl_ , a voice told her, but she ignored it; she was safer that way.

“Ok then, off you go,” he pulled at the buckle and the openings, and then started to slide the pants down. He stopped when the view of very black racy underwear met his view. “…are you even allowed this off-duty?”

“…No. I didn’t have any others, and this was a gag gift.” He wanted to ask from whom, but he would probably either like or hate it, and now was not the time. Pants thrown over his shoulder, he gripped her waist tightly and pinned it against the bed. What he was going to do, would change everything, and no matter how drunk he was, there were just some things that needed to be remembered and asked. “We’re gonna do this, right?”

Kagami sucked in an enormous amount of air, then chuckled, inconvincibly. “What? You scared.”

“Considering that it’s you, and it’s either your first time or you’ll probably have PTSD over it, I’m asking because I want to know what you think about what we are doing.”

“Stop asking me already,” she snapped, hitting his bare chest with a fist. “Stop asking because it’s already too late.”

“Seriously, Kagami,” he whispered, “you understand that even if between us we’re just Daiki Aomine and Taiga Kagami, others might not think the same way.” Unshed tears glistened in her eyes as she bit her lower lip but did not say anything. “I’ll be fine, as usual,” he grinned mirthlessly, “but they’re going to look at you differently.”

“Why do you care now?” she asked in near whimpers, “You didn’t care when they were saying those things to me months ago! Yea, I want to be seen on equal levels like a man, but I know better, I know I will not be able to do all those things you are able to do, and I know I’ll probably be the sole reason the mission fails. Everyone who looks at me sees it: the damsel. The one they can fuck with, rape and blame the failure of their mission on.” Aomine kept his eyes on her without moving. “At first,” she said, a little softer, but her voice was not quivering, “I thought you were the same, you know.”

He did not want to toot his own horn, but who was he kidding? “And now?”

She snorted, raising her hips despite him pushing it down firmly, grazing it across his pelvis. “You’re an arrogant SOB. Get back to work.”

“Aye aye, ma’am,” he grinned, loosening his hold to smother down her abs with his palms; she was still hot. He felt her push his pants off his hips too, and he allowed it, if only it showed her eagerness, and the action just excited him. The hellcat wanted him and he was going to give in to her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so...the next part is partially done. I've been sitting on it for a few weeks now after restarting it, because it isn't going where I want it to go. (And I'm terrible enough that the last part it already finished, and it is sitting had hatching eggs with me. ;_;)
> 
>  
> 
> On another note, reviews and comments appreciated, no matter the content! :D


	3. To Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was no need for ranks and play; it was her and him, him and her. He did not care for those stripes and stars that on a regular he was being threatened of its removal, not when, he thinks, feeling her skin scorched under his fingertips, when Taiga was becoming undone with his ministrations right before him to feast on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild swearing, processional to the smut (so yes, smut here…).
> 
> Can you believe it took me months to finish this? I've been hoarding this from February, and I still feel it isn't up to par.

_Aomine kept his eyes on her without moving. “At first,” she said, a little softer, but her voice was not quivering, “I thought you were the same, you know.”_

_He didn’t want to toot his own horn, but who was he kidding? “And now?”_

_She snorted, raising her hips despite him pushing it down firmly, grazing it across his pelvis. “You’re an arrogant SOB. Get back to work.”_

_“Aye aye, ma’am,” he grinned, loosening his hold to smother down her abs with his palms; she was still hot. He felt her push his pants off his hips too, and he allowed it, if only it showed her eagerness, and the action just excited him. The hellcat wanted him and he was going to give in to her._

 

The humidity of the room was the last thing he thought about when in a few minutes, all that would be behind him. The only apparel left on him was being stripped off unceremoniously. The ID tag fell in between the crevice of Taiga’s breasts, snug like he wanted to be in between them. When he did try to push up the tight, fully padded Nike sports bra, the tags followed slightly along with the moment, one tag lying on the junction of her lightly tanned throat. As he remained bent over her heaving chest, his eyes caught the tag’s embossed words. He found it thoroughly amusing that the hellcat left her religion preference blank as if not wanting to be controlled in that area of her life as well. He brought his hand up to trace the blood type, laughing. “Oh it’s true,” he chatted with the confused redhead, watching him. “Your personality matches your blood type.”

The right hand that had been fisted into the rough cotton of the bed sheet raised up to smack him on his triceps. He grinned cheekily, nuzzling her chest in mirth. “And what does your personality say, huh?” she reached for his dangling tags, steadying to read the print. She scoffed, flinging it away. “Yea, all your bad traits are true.”

Daiki trailed his hands upwards to the material again and slowly curled it up across her chest to reveal plump breasts with nipples standing at attention. Giddily, he leered, saluting them. Taiga had enough sense to whack him over his bent head, but in the same motion, her breath hitched when the other soldier ran a thick tongue broadly against the protruding mass. His eyes darted slowly, carefully, each square inch of skin perused with the utmost attention to detail; Daiki could map out exit strategies if need be. His splayed fingers, contrasting Taiga’s abdominal skin, felt like they would melt if she heated up any more.

He watched with intense, bated breath the rise and fall of the redhead’s chest over which eyes of cooling charcoal watched his every move too. Contrary to how he would have felt not long ago, with all their clothes on, he was elated that all her stare was doing was making him confident. He brought both hands down her waist, following the streamlined body curves, seeing her arch along with his motion, hot skin against hot fingers. He leaned over her body, his abdomen grazing her muscular belly.

Daiki trailed open mouthed kisses on her pillow-soft breasts mounted on firm muscles which he kneaded warily, eyes never leaving hers.

“Ha,” she sounded, surprised both at the feeling and the noise the action provoked from her—it did not last long when the chorus echoed more embarrassing notes better left unsung. Daiki did not let her remain quiet, Taiga muffling the sounds from her mouth with a hand thrown to gag herself; he entwined the hand, letting his other hand brush loose strands of hair away from her face.

“Don’t hold it in,” he breathed out, voice so low, she thought she imagined it. “Let me hear how you feel,” and he kissed the back of her hand sweetly before trailing in to the inside of her wrists and down the length of her arm.

Taiga arched into his palms, her skin, burning under his touch, smooth and easy and pliant. She felt like putty, moulding and writhing as he lapped up everything she was offering him, spread wide on the springy bed surface.

Daiki leered. He settled his weight just behind her rump before tracing it and squeezing, pushing her lower body up with every firm gentle squeeze. With the same motions, he trailed a path to her labia, lightly playing with the folds that were moistening. He used his thumb to inch his way to her clitoris, bright red and proud—just like her—and stopped at the very tip, applying pressure and taking it off, as Taiga shivered at the ministrations. As he continued to play with it, she sang a different song, one that startled her.

“W-what was that?” she breathed out heavily, panting, unable to slow down her beating heart. She was feeling dizzy, like the pressure was rising to her head and clouding her senses, but still letting her feel everything. Her body felt, besides the streaks of fiery impulses racing up and down, as if it was thudding with each and every breath she forced through a constricting trachea. Taiga dragged away one hand that had been clenching Daiki’s shoulder like a life line to her throat, as if she could not take in any air whatsoever, and Daiki, looking down at her from on top, seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

“Relax, you’re not going to suffocate,” she watched as the man smirked, “yet.” He chuckled at her glare, moving more than just his thumb on her clitoris now. Working her opening with two fingers, she squirmed uncomfortably at the sensation, especially when he started to moved his fingers apart. On the insertion of the third finger, she clamped down. “Hey, hey,” he chided her softly, moving to kneel right behind her rump again and not dangling over her body. She marginally relaxed with him out of her way, but she was now regretting that Daiki was looking at her most intimate physical self so closely, in such bright light.

“Ma-maybe you should put off the lights,” she murmured, clasping her hands together as if in a pleading motion when he looked back at her. “I’m- I don’t like that you can see…everything.” Her knees were slowly coming together in emphasis.

A hand that was unnervingly hot and clammy was placed on her right knee. Taiga looked down the length of her body at the suddenly serious man, mouth in a grim line, and eyes at half-mast. “Taiga,” he said, “I am not going to hurt you. I will even stop if you aren’t comfortable.” At this she looked pointedly at the raging hard-on he sported, but he was not even blinking at the reaction. “I’m serious.” Saying so, he released her knee and backed away.

Daiki observed how Taiga tensed for a few seconds when he moved, watching like a frightened animal, before the muscles in her body seemed to just melt. Neither of them moved, and by then, Taiga got her breath back. She could not believe how stressed she was getting over doing the deed, the insecurity being so unlike her usual self. Usually, she acted first and then thought about how big of a mistake that was later.

Realising that it was more awkward to be waiting around for the next move, Taiga frowned, gathered whatever manly courage she had left in her exposed womanly body, and rose from the sweat-dampened sheets; her nerves it seemed, surely was over-reacting at this. “I don’t like this.”

Both of Daiki’s eyebrows rose as one towards his high hairline. Normally looking at his wide forehead—or badly thought of undercut—she was prone to snickering to herself, but even that did not assuage her queasiness. From her new position she could see his enthusiasm wilting, literally.

So she did what she knew best; dive forward and think about how she royally screwed up something that was supposed to be simple. Why everything between the two of them was mind-numbingly complicated, she wondered, tethering onto her knees before him, placing her left hand on his right shoulder, him looking on confused. As she eased closer, she muttered, “You always make me think too much,” and her accusation was followed by her grasping his penis indelicately and guiding herself onto it.

Daiki froze for all of a millisecond before he sounded the alarms: “Whoa, whoa, WHOA THERE!” Taiga stopped trying to sit on his lap. In her right hand, Daiki’s penis felt so weird in her hand, even more so when what had been slowly softening now hardened. The thick squiggly veins pulsed under her grasp, and for a moment, she was glad she could not see it. She could, however, see her towering frame reflected in wide blue eyes. “What, just what do you think you’re doing?” he asked of her. “Not that I mind the sudden aggressiveness to take me on,” he leered, “but it’s the suddenness that’s scaring me.” Daiki paused. “Are you PMSing?”

Taiga, in his eyes’ reflection, could see her facial expression clearly. Said reflection ceased when the owner’s eyes clenched tight with pain when she punched him hard in the face. “Hope you didn’t want to kiss me,” she smiled, trying to ooze out all the evil she could muster in her aura, “Cause I don’t like to taste blood.”

“Then don’t hit me, you bitch,” Daiki whined, wiping away a mixture of spittle and blood that escaped his lips. He peeked out from one eye at her evil smile. “You’re a terrible virgin.”

“Oh yea?” she asked, threatening to rise up, “Maybe I’ll remain this _terrible_ virgin for someone else to cure, then.”

Suddenly hands clenched in a vice grip around her hips and a look she had never seen cross the higher ranked soldier settled firmly on his features. It was close to the frown and disconcerting expression she had seen the first day they had interacted, back in the mess hall, that looking at it after so many months, was odd. And frightening. She squirmed some more on his lap when he tightened his already painful grip.

“I don’t think so.” Taiga’s mouth slackened downwards. “I’m a possessive bastard, and I don’t like when it isn’t _me_ in charge.” A superior look, damning as it was, encompassed Daiki’s face. “The only one, who could do you, is me. I’ll bind you to me, whether you like it or not.” He suddenly brought their flesh together on his lap, hissing into her ear, “If making you my property is how you want it to be, I’ll make it so you’ll never forget that.”

This Daiki was new. Taiga had never seen this side of the male before, and while she thought the tightening of her stomach was fear, the heavy, steady pounding of her heart in her ribcage said otherwise. The waves of heat passing from his body to hers said otherwise. Those anger-ridden eyes staring down at her, despite her being a head higher in their current position, said otherwise.

“Well?” Daiki broke through her analysis. “What’s it going to be?”

Taiga’s answer could only be that: she tightened her hold on his member and, feeling the engorged head slip against her folds, tried to coordinate putting him in herself. The tip managed to move in smoothly for that was how wet she had gotten, thinking of this animal—far worse than anyone thought of her—being her master, wanting utmost control of her. The simple power play (for she was sure she would rather face court martial than be _submissive_ in an S &M scenario, with _Daiki_ of all people) that suddenly cropped between them made the self-imposed line Taiga was crossing, that much wider, that much delicious to jump across. The rebellion was pooling in her groin, just like the full feeling she achieved when, with the same strong grasp on her hips, Daiki guided her completely down his member.

She gasped, clenching all the muscles in her body at once. The sensation, the emotions, of her first time was so strong, and Daiki was not even moving. In fact, the man was panting into the junction of her neck, but the grip of her hips was loosening. Those large hands, however, moved to her bottom, slowly massaging the flesh. “Hey,” he muttered into her skin, words drowning, “loosen up for me, okay?”

She could not, she relented in her mind; the power she held by clamping down on him, squeezing Daiki’s hips with her knees as well, was enthralling. The slight shooting pain she felt when penetrated was nothing compared to this allure. However, it ended too soon, when Daiki pulled her up a scant few millimetres and dropped her. “Hey,” he called again.

Pouting and gasping as her throat constricted, she mutinously held onto Daiki’s shoulders which trembled in a curious motion. She gazed down through watery eyes, and stiffened, despite Daiki rolling his hips almost lazily; he was laughing. “What’s so funny?!” she snapped at him, trying to stop the movement.

“Because,” he huffed, bending his head over her breasts, kissing them sweetly, then nipping them, “You’re fighting me in this as well!” And a loud, blossoming laugh ended his statement, his vibrating body causing delicious friction between them. “Oh my hellcat,” he crowed, the unusual mood dissipating, appearing jovial, “what you do to me!”

Daiki brought his legs out from under her, and in the bustle, managed to place her more comfortably on his groin. Taking the chance created with her distracted, he started moving slowly. Taiga’s body jerked in surprise, and then when there was nothing else she could possibly think of, gave in. and that was it, in the end. There was no need for ranks and play; it was her and him, him and her. He did not care for those stripes and stars that on a regular he was being threatened of its removal, not when, he thinks, feeling her skin scorched under his fingertips, when Taiga was becoming undone with his ministrations right before him to feast on.

*

Taiga blinked her eyes blearily, knowing she woke up in an unusual circumstance the minute she registered the cool air licking her skin except for her back and midsection. She could also hear a steady heartbeat close by, and when she cranked her neck to look behind her, her own heart stopped short. The insane Lt. Colonel was sleeping, eyes shut tight and mouth slightly parted as he breathed steadily, unawares. Seeing him, she was starting to remember all the things they had participated in the previous night, but compared to that, Taiga felt even more conscious lying beside him than having sex with him.

Deciding that it could only get worse (and seriously needing to scrub twenty-five layers of skin) she squirmed out of his warm hold, gathered her clothes and tiptoed back into the bathroom. In the shower, she remained under the slowly hearting water spray, wrapping her thoughts together in a concise manner, but failing every time she remembered specifics. How was she ever to look the other in the eye, she did not know, but to hell if she had to move around camp with her chin to her chest. Maybe all that she needed to do for the moment was retreat; it was the basic strategy when you could not handle your enemy, just so you could attack with full force when prepared.

Sooner rather than later, Taiga snapped the lever off, pulling the last remaining towel to dry herself off. She sighed, looking at her reflection, the pink of her facial skin definitely not all from the hot shower. She trailed a finger along the marks on her skin, them looking ugly against her cream complexion, but really just another reminder of last night’s activities; it was also just another reminder that she had crossed a boundary that she had vowed never to do when on duty. Exiting the bath, it felt like déjà vu was becoming a recurring theme with them, the man spread on the bed and staring straight at her when she appeared before him.

“Hey,” he grinned, pushing his upper body with his elbows, running his eyes over her dressed form. “You could have waited and we could have gone another round.” He chuckled as the towel was gripped tightly in her fists. “Once we wake up, once in the shower, and once at the door before we leave,” he counted on his hand, teasing. His comment, however, resulted in a towel to his face. He let himself fall backwards, laughing, removing the offending item and glancing at her from his fall. “Doing good?”

“Not if you keep at it,” she snapped, mulish.

Daiki grinned, sitting up this time, towel in his lap. “Can’t help it, you know. That’s just my honest feelings.”

“Of a pervert.” She glared. “Seriously, how you have survived being gutted I can only dream,” she was saying, turning her head away and missing the new look on the other’s face.

Daiki laughed. “Aww,” he stood up in his full glory, catching her eye again, and watched as she did a double-take then tried to put some distance between them; “Didn’t know you worried for me.”

She snarled. “I don’t!” He chuckled again.

“Let me just shower quickly and we can take the scenic route back to base.”

“There is only the scenic route,” she muttered to his receding back, but complied, sitting on the over-stuffed chair that had last night’s towel draped on it. She sighed, rubbing her face aggressively. Exactly what had she gotten herself into, she did not know, but at least the stupid higher up did not force himself on her for the activities he thought they should partake in before they left the sleazy-feeling motel. As she waited, Taiga wondered what would change now. Would he go back on his word and demand for her body at base? Would the other stall her advancement plans like all the other bastards she had the misfortune of knowing in her career? Or would he infringe on her rights for release after her tour and make her suffer long periods of active duty, just so he could show he had control over her? Taiga shivered at the thoughts.

Daiki emerged from the steamy bathroom, belligerently drying his hair as he strutted out still stark naked. When their eyes met, however, he paused. “What’s wrong?”

Taiga shook her head, looking elsewhere, “Nothing.” She startled when a strong grip on her chin pulled her head up to meet his. The kiss she received was awkward—at least to her—but Daiki did not force more onto her. He straightened his posture and grinned down at her.

“Yea, keep telling yourself that,” he said, still grinning as he moved around the room to redress himself. “And if you feel better, we can pretend last night never happened.” Taiga stiffened. “It’ll just make it more exciting every time I have to re-educate honest responses from your body.” The leer he sent at her from over his shoulder sent a shiver, a mix between fear and pleasure, down her spine, settling comfortably at the base, pooling heat.

At the door, facing his back, Daiki said, “But I’m not going to let you go, you hear me?” He turned to face her. “I’m serious. And I hate wasting time.”

Taiga frowned.

“I’ve caught you once, I’ll catch you again.” He knocked his forehead on hers, then let his rest softly against hers, reaching behind her head to hold her still. Then cheekily he said, “I don’t need to paint anymore towns red; you already came that colour.” And he sealed it with a kiss so fierce Taiga could not even smack him for the stupid comment with how breathless it left her.

“Fuck you, you loser. See if you get any from me.” She pushed him aside as she stormed out, feeling her cheeks heat up. “’Came that colour’, my ass,” she mumbled.

“And what a fine ass it is!” Taiga roared as she swivelled on her heel, and bulldozed him to the corridor’s floor. “Ooh! Public sex, you’re on!”

“Argh! You insufferable twit!” she smacked his laughing face a couple of times, the constricting feeling in her chest easing out. It would seem that she had cross the boundary and still survived. Looking at Daiki’s face, she relented: “You stupid perverted child. How you survive in life is anyone’s guess.” And she punched him for good measure. At least that felt right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...felt really disjointed. Any thoughts? Reviews and comments are greatly appreciated!! :)


	4. Postulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daiki is starting to get what all those nuances in her posture mean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final part of this work. Hope you've enjoyed it so far! :)

He was hoping that when the missive came around, his name was on it, but in the same breath was not as well. A month ago, when Taiga’s tour had ended, there had been vibes of awkwardness that had yet dissuaded from their daily talks—he had used rank to do so, but the redheaded hellcat of his participated in stunted conversations fit for the illiterate—and for the first time in years, he was unsure.

It would figure, he realises when the messenger handed him an envelope denoting his fate for the next eighteen months, that when he finally met a woman that could make him second-guess himself, she did not even fall under the same category of “woman”. Pondering which category Taiga really fell under, he split open the letter and read the opening sequences with bated breath.

“Aomine,” he looked up from the sheet to face Major Susa, “you can have your call in five.”

“Ah, thanks,” he returned back to the letter, distracted, wondering how the conversation today would go.

Sooner than he expected, he was sitting on the rickety stool some idiot thought would be a good deterrent for long calls, only making him feel more agitated on the topics he wanted to discuss with Taiga. As the call connected and the redheaded woman’s face took up the screen for a brief moment before settling as per usual, Daiki wondered where he should start.

“So,” for once in the whole month, Taiga broke the lull, “what’s up?” the stiffening of her own shoulders across the cyber space alerted him that she felt stupid about the question, but the steadfast way in which she remained looking at him showed her stubbornness perfectly. He smiled.

“Nothing’s happening right now, but you could never really tell, right,” he decided to let it slide, not commenting on it. He glanced down at the letter, clenching tightly to ruin the material, before glancing up at her. “Got my confirmation,” he said slowly. On the screen, if it was anymore possible to be, Taiga sat up straight, clutching her ever present black sofa cushion in between fists and her folded legs. Her eyes remained near unblinking, though the connection was grainy and Daiki could not tell if she looked alert or scared.

“And?” she snapped finally, leaning forward when he zoned out. “Where’re you going to be?!”

He chuckled at her tone, glanced at the letter, and then back to her. “Wherever I want to be.” Silence met his statement. As if understanding what he said, Taiga’s shoulders drew up on themselves, hunching up close to her cheeks, probably unawares that her body was giving her away.

“Yea?” she replied. “Awesome.”

Her voice was clipped, trying to sound peachy but failing miserably at it. He could almost predict how bad the rest of the conversation was going to go, especially if he did not man up, drop his balls down and actually say what was running through his head. “Yea, it’d be awesome if I had a place to go.” He pretended to sigh, “I’m too old to crash with my parents, and I don’t think I have anyone who could tolerate me for more than a few hours if I’m pushing it.” He knew the limits of his relationships, and even if he had people he could invariably crash with, where he really wanted to spend the next eighteen months was with the person who looked to be caving in on herself as he continued speaking. “So yea, either I find the next holiday destination or our dearest circus trainer will find something for me to do.” They both grimaced at the idea.

It did not take long for Taiga to start fidgeting. She looked about the screen on her side, glared at random objects, after which she squared her shoulders, stuck her lower lip out in a mean scowl and groused: “If there’s no one to take your sorry ass, you could come over here. I mean, I’ve an extra room and all, and the place is big enough for your fat ass-” whatever she was going to say was cut off with his raucous laughter. He threw his head back, eyes clenched in relief as he let go of all his nervousness and hedging.

“Taiga, my little hellcat,” the woman bristled aptly on the screen, “yea, I’ll come over. But I don’t think I’ll need that room; we’ve slept on worse surfaces so I think your bed can handle us.”

Taiga screeched as she neared the appliance through which she had the video call connected, hissing out, “You bastard! Don’t speak so loudly! Someone will hear!” Daiki, to support his next words, glared out of the corner of his eye at the communications team still stuck in the tent with him, saying, “No one’s paying attention to us, baby girl.”

“And you can sleep in the garbage bin for all I care; you’re not stepping into my room!” she snapped. Daiki merely laughed at the assumption, groundlessly agreeing to whatever terms she was laying out for him. All he could really think of was that he really loved the redheaded hellcat, and he was going to show her just how much when he touched down.

“See you in a bit,” was his parting greeting. Unlike usual, Taiga wound down her huffing and puffing to stare at him in silence before, uncharacteristically, she waved at him slightly. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” she shook her head, red mane high on her head. “I- You- I just-…” she frowned, probably (he couldn’t tell on the connection they had going, with her looking down into her lap); “I’ll see you soon,” she agreed.

Daiki, a second away from cutting the call, tilted his head to the side, watching. She mimicked him, unconsciously. “Yea, you will. Don’t worry.”

Taiga blew her lid at that unfounded postulation. “What?! No way am I-!” Daiki disconnected the call then, laughing, successfully bringing her mood up with just two words. He was starting to understand her hard to get ways, slowly, but it was a pace he could deal with, even if he hated things moving slowly. He stood up, dusted his army fatigues, and sauntered out of the tent. He could not wait for the evening when the transport plane would make its way off this godforsaken hellhole. In sixteen hours he would be seeing his little hellcat, and he would spend the next eighteen months showing her how much she had him wrapped around her finger. At the moment, though, he would keep the secret a little longer, lest she really kicked him out of her bed. That would but a big damper on his plans, and he really could not have that, now could he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were actually many more scenarios I imagined them in this particular AU, but for now, before I bite off more than I can chew at the moment, I'm ending it here.
> 
> To all those who bestowed me a kudo, thank you! *bows*
> 
> Nonetheless, reviews and comments are greatly appreciated! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive me for any mistakes (grammar and all that); while I know I skip back and forth on it, I edited this on the phone OTL.
> 
> Reviews and comments are appreciated, as always :)


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